Photo filters: how to use them...?

It's customary to use filters in photography. Were it only an UV or protection filter. However, in panoramic photography by assembling, it's not recommended to use for instance the famous polarizing filter because its use is tricky. Yet it can be beneficially replaced by a neutral grey shelf filter.

Note!Having had the possibility to run numerous tests, I also share my conclusions as to their respective qualities (Hoya, BW, Rodenstock, Lee Filters...).

The use of photo filters is very customary. They allow for instance to protect the front lens and are easier to clean than our dear objective lenses. Some use anti-UV additional filters in the mountain for example in order to remove even more the typical blue veil.But are there recommended and to be avoided filters when you shoot panoramic photos by assembling? Let's see this now...

Note!During their presentation, I give my advice on some filters I could try and compare. So I'll see you at the bottom of the page for my evaluation !

If you're a beginner...

A new part of this guide is now dedicated to you. You'll find pieces of advice easy to apply to stitch nice panoramas, choose your software, your equipment...

There's no contraindication a priori to use UV filters since they'll beneficially protect the front objective lens; they're indeed much cheaper. However, the issue of their quality is naturally raised: do they negatively influence the quality of our "dear" lenses on two criteria that seem important to me:

Is the sharpness of our lenses made worse?

Is the rendering of the colors influenced?

About sharpness: according to my tests, from a certain level of quality - I particularly think about the excellent value for money of Hoya Pro 1Digital filters - the level is such that the differences are hardly visible - when they are! - in my tests realized with my Pentax 645D and my best lenses. Frankly, we're quibbling between for instance the crè;me de la crè;me from Rodenstock (the HR) and this Hoya serial. On this sharpness criterion, only could we notice on one zone that the sharpness is a little bit worse than without filters or with the best filters but hard to tell with certainty that it's not air turbulence for example rather than a problem of homogeneity. When I'm telling you we're quibbling, we really are!

About the rendering: after running tests with very different lights, I'm unable to say whether a filter is really better than its competitors.

And then, there's also the problem of the manufacturing quality and this time, I'm bound to notice that the best filters, often made of brass, are more pleasant to screw and unscrew.

One piece of advice! It's unbelievable how the difference of quality is unpronounced between the best filters and the excellent serial Hoya Digital Pro 1. The more obvious remains the quality of screwing thanks to the brass but then, this is really expensive. I myself own Hoya Pro 1 Digital and Rodenstock HR but I've never felt the need to systematically change my Hoya for Rodenstock.

HOYA Pro1 Digital UV Filters

The serial Hoya Pro1 Digital has the best value for money on the market according to my tests :

Excellent value for money;

Rather efficient against distant blue UV rays;

No big drawback for the price.

The HD serial by Hoya (over there) is believed even more homogeneous on the whole surface of the filter and the frame is even thinner but the overall quality of this serial is remarkable for the price and Hoya HDs are not free from little defects too!

Caution when you place your order: check the diameter of your lens.

From £16.40

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Hoya Pro1 D UV 58mm

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From £16.40

HOYA HD Nano UV filters

The new serial Hoya HD Nano represents the high-range from Hoya. And you have to acknowledge that quality's here, but not perfection! There's not a world of difference between the Pro serial and the HD3 and some could even say we're quibbling but the HD3 serial is even more homogeneous, finer and easier to clean thanks to a special coating.

Rather less efficient against blue distant UV rays than the afore mentioned serial paradoxically;

Perfectly homogeneous;

Thinner and more pleasant frame (wide-angle lens).

More pleasant to use in the field than the afore mentioned serial.

Just a little bit more expensive than the excellent serial Pro1, the HD3 serial represents the uncompromising offer from Hoya but, and I'll state it again, it's not perfect either. A few specular reflections remain on certain luminous points and, oddly, more than the Digital Pro serial.

Caution when you place your order: check the diameter of your lens.

From £97.60

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Hoya HD Nano UV 58mm

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From £97.60

Polarizing filters

Probably the most difficult filter to use in panoramic photography: the polarizing filter. The reason is very simple: the filter is efficient only to a certain proportion of blue sky, the one making an angle of 90° with the sun and, progressively, inefficient elsewhere. The sky will thus be visibly darkened in this part and clearer on each side. It's pretty ugly and above all very complicated to correct as you can see on the picture below. Indeed, the field of view shot is most of the time so wide that there could be a huge disparity between between both sides of a assembled picture with this filter. With that said, the polarizing filter remains your only option against reflections in windows...

One piece of advice! Beware not to go over a 100° field of view if you use a polarizing filter to get a nice blue sky on the whole picture.

HOYA Pro1 Digital polarizing filters

The serial Hoya Pro1 Digital is of very good value for money according to my tests... if not to say excellent. I have some and I never felt the need to change them in spite of comparative reviews.

Excellent value for money;

Optically excellent; you really have to quibble to see the difference in certain areas in comparison to the best, due to a less absolute homogeneity.

Polarizing effect as good as the best ones.

The HD serial from Hoya is even more homogeneous on the whole surface of the filter and the frame is even thinner but the overall quality of this serial is remarkable considering its price and Hoya HD are not free from little defects either!
Frankly, the difference between the serials Digital Pro 1 and HD is really fine. According to me, we quibble as for the optical quality and only the mechanical quality makes a little pleasant difference.

Caution when you place your order: check the diameter of your lens.

From $33.75

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Hoya Pro1 D Pola 58mm

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HOYA HD Nano polarizer filters

The Hoya HD Nano serial represents the top-range from Hoya. And you have to acknowledge that quality's here, but not perfection! Optically, there's almost no difference between the Pro1 and the HD3 serials and some could even say we're quibbling but the HD3 serial is even more homogeneous, finer and more pleasant to clean thanks to a special coating and also more pleasant to use mechanically. This is not always negligible!

Slightly more expensive than the excellent serial Pro1, the HD3 serial represents the uncompromising offer from Hoya but, and I'd like to stress it, it's not perfect either. Some specular reflections remain on certain luminous spots and, oddly, more than on the Digital Pro serial.

Caution when you place your order: check the diameter of your lens.

From $85.00

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Hoya HD Nano pola. 58mm

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Neutral grey filters 2x, 4x, 8x...

Most probably the most difficult filter to use in panoramic photography is the polarizing filter. The reason is very simple: the filter is only efficient on a certain proportion of blue sky, the one making an angle of 90° with the sun. The sky will thus be really darkened in this part and clear on the sides. It's quite ugly and above pretty complicated to correct. Indeed, most of the time, the field of view shot is so wide that there could be a big disparity between the two edges of a assembled photo with this filter. With that said, the polarizing filter is still your best option against reflections in windows...

One piece of advice! Be careful not to go over 100° of field of view if you're using a polarizing filter to get a nice blue sky on the entire picture.

8X HOYA Pro1 Digital neutral filters

The Hoya Pro1 Digital serial is of very good value for money according to my tests but on the correction of the blue dominant of distant items or shadows, the Rodenstock filters are noticeably more powerful.

Excellent value for money;

Optically excellent;

Distant items and shadows bluer than with Rodenstock filters.

The HD serial from Hoya is even more homogeneous on the whole surface of the filter and the frame is even thinner but the overall quality of this serial is remarkable at this price and Hoya HDs are not free from little defects either!
Frankly, the difference between Digital Pro 1 and HD is really fine. We're almost quibbling.

Caution when you place your order: check the diameter of your lens.

From £34.95

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Hoya Pro1 D NDx8 58mm

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From £34.95

Grey shelf filters

Here is the filter that would deserve being in every landscape panoramic photographer's camera bag. There's no contraindication to its use, unlike polarizing filter. It's thus a very good filter to darken the sky or even better, not overexpose it when you want to expose the ground correctly.

A piece of advice! There are often two types of shelf filters: soft and hard. The first ones are very progressive (for a mountain landscape for instance) and others rather for seasides where the skyline is very neat and flat.